Drawer slide assembly

ABSTRACT

A drawer slide assembly includes an outer slide member securable to a side wall of a piece of furniture. An inner slide member with an inverted U-like shape is securable to a drawer and has two free ends bent inwards and a wave-like portion formed between the two free ends. An intermediate slide member is received in the inner member and defined with three raceways, wherein one raceway is defined between a lateral portion of the intermediate slide member and the wave-like portion, and the other two raceways are symmetrically defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate slide member. Three groups of rolling elements are respectively received in the raceways for slidingly coupling the inner slide member and the intermediate slide member. Axes of the rolling elements constitute a triangle. Whereby, the drawer slide assembly has good upright stability and low elastic deformation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a drawer slide assembly, and more particularly to a drawer slide assembly with good upright stability and low elastic deformation.

2. Description of Related Art

With reference to FIG. 9, a conventional drawer slide assembly (60), as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,020, includes an outer slide member (51) mounted on an inner side wall (50) of a piece of furniture. An intermediate slide member (70) is formed at a distal portion of the outer slide member (51), and includes two protrusions (71) formed thereon and three first raceways (72) respectively defined beside the protrusions (71). An inner slide member (61) with a C-like cross section is mounted on a drawer (52) and outside the intermediate side member (70), and has three second raceways (63) corresponding to the first raceways (72). Two bent sides (62) are formed at distal portions of the inner slide member (61). Three groups of rolling elements (40) are respectively received in the first and second raceways (63, 71) and positioned in a sleeve (41) between the inner slide member (61) and the intermediate slide member (71).

Because the axes of the rolling elements (40) describe an isosceles triangle, wherein two rolling elements (40) are positioned at an upper portion of the outer slide member (61) and one rolling element (40) is positioned at a lower portion of the outer slide member (61), the resistance of lateral forces is improved. However, when the drawer with a large load is pulled out, the slide assembly can not prevent a rear end of the drawer from being turned up to cause an unsmooth and unsteady movement of the drawer. Therefore, the resistance of upright force of the drawer slide member is low.

Therefore, the invention provides a drawer slide assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a drawer slide assembly which has good upright stability and low elastic deformation.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a two-part drawer slide assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the two-part drawer slide assembly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of another embodiment of the two-part drawer slide assembly;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a three-part drawer slide assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the three-part drawer slide assembly in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of another embodiment of the three-part drawer slide assembly;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a further embodiment of the three-part drawer slide assembly;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of another further embodiment of the three-part drawer slide assembly; and

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of a conventional drawer slide assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

According to the present invention, a drawer slide assembly is illustrated only by way of a partial view. For the sake of simplicity, the following description relates only to one side of the drawer slide assembly, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the same parts are provided in a symmetrically opposite location on the opposite side of a drawer (12), so that the drawer slide assembly on both sides of the drawer (12) can be manufactured in identical form and assembled.

With reference to FIGS. 1-2, the drawer slide assembly in the form of a two-part slide mechanism includes an outer slide member (11) mounted on a side wall (10) of a piece of furniture. An intermediate slide member (30) is integrally formed on the outer slide member (11) and includes two protrusions (31) and three first raceways (32) defined beside the protrusions (31), wherein one raceway (32) is defined at a top portion of the intermediate slide member (30), and the other two raceways (32) are symmetrically defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate slide member (30).

An inner slide member (21) with an inverted U-like shape is provided outside the intermediate slide member (30). A wave-like portion (22) is formed at a top-middle portion of the inner slide member (21), and two free ends (23) of the inner slide member (21) are bent inwards to face each other. Therefore, a second raceway (221) is defined at the wave-like portion (22), and two third raceways (231) are respectively defined at the free ends (23) of the inner slide member (21). The second and third raceways (221, 231) are corresponding to the first raceways (32).

Multiple rolling elements (40) arranged in three groups are respectively received in the raceways (32, 221, 231) to enable the inner slide member (22) to move about the intermediate slide member (30). A sleeve (41) is provided between the inner slide member (21) and intermediate slide member (30), and the rolling elements (40) are positioned in the sleeve (41). Axes constitute an isosceles triangle with the rolling element (40) in the second raceway (221) as the top angle and the rolling element (40) in the third raceway (231) as the bottom angle. Preferably, the axes constitute an equilateral triangle.

In this embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate slide member (30) has a left free end bent downwards. In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate slide member (30) has a right free end bent downwards.

With reference to FIGS. 4-5, the drawer slide assembly in the form of a three-part slide mechanism includes one outer slide member (11) and two inner slide members (21) provided face-to-face, wherein the lower inner slide member (21) with a U-like cross section is mounted on the outer slide member (11), and the upper inner slide member (21) with an inverted U-like cross section is mounted on the drawer (12). Two intermediate slide members (30) are respectively received in the inner slide members (21) and symmetrically connected together by a linkage (33). Thus, each of intermediate slide members (30) is provided with three groups of rolling elements (40) and a sleeve (41) for positioning the rolling elements (40).

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the intermediate slide members (30) have two free ends respectively at two opposite sides of the linkage (33). In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 6, the intermediate slide members (30) have two free ends at the same side of the linkage (33).

With reference to FIGS. 7-8, the outer slide member (11) is formed with a U-like slot for receiving the lower inner slide member (21).

Because the inner slide member (21) is formed as a U-like or inverted U-like shape, and the rolling elements (40) are arranged with one or two isosceles triangles, the drawer (12) with a large load can be self-adjusting to smoothly move along an axis of the rolling elements (40) in the second raceways (221) without any deviation. Thus, the drawer (12) can be easily pulled out with a good resistance of upright force. Moreover, the wave-like portion (22) is formed in the inner slide member (21), so the strength is reinforced to prevent the slide assembly from elastically deforming.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A drawer slide assembly comprising: an outer slide member (11) securable to a side wall of a piece of furniture; an inner slide member (21) securable to a drawer, the inner slide member (21) formed with an inverted U-like shape and having two free ends (23) bent inwards and a wave-like portion (22) formed between the two free ends (23); an intermediate slide member (30) received in the inner slide member (21), the intermediate slide member (30) defined with three raceways, wherein one of the raceways (32) is defined between a lateral portion of the intermediate slide member (30) and the wave-like portion (22) of the inner slide member (21), and the other two raceways (32) are symmetrically defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate slide member (30); and three groups of rolling elements (40) respectively received in the raceways (32) for slidingly coupling the inner slide member (21) and the intermediate slide member (30), axes of the rolling elements (40) constitute a triangle.
 2. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intermediate slide member (30) is integrally formed with the outer slide member (11).
 3. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a sleeve (41) provided between the intermediate slide member (21) and the inner slide member (31) for positioning the rolling elements (40).
 4. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axes of the rolling elements constitute an isosceles triangle.
 5. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axes of the rolling elements constitute an equilateral triangle.
 6. A drawer slide member comprising: an outer slide member (11) securable to a side wall of a piece of furniture; two inner slide members (21) provided in a face-to-face arrangement, wherein a lower one of the inner slide members (21) with a U-like cross section is mounted on the outer slide member (11), and an upper one of the inner slide members (21) with an inverted U-like cross section is securable to a drawer, each of the inner slide members (21) has two free ends (23) bent inwards and a wave-like portion (22) is formed between the two free ends (23); two intermediate slide members (30) respectively received in the inner member (21) and symmetrically connected together by a linkage (33), each of the intermediate slide members (30) defined with three raceways, wherein one of the raceways is defined between a lateral portion of the intermediate slide member (30) and the wave-like portion (22) of the inner slide member (21), and the other two raceways (32) are symmetrically defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate slide member (30); and six groups of rolling elements (40) respectively received in the raceways, whereby axes of the rolling elements (40) constitute two triangles.
 7. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 6 further comprising two sleeves (41) respectively provided between the inner slide member (21) and the intermediate slide member (31) for positioning the rolling elements (40).
 8. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the outer slide member (11) is defined with a U-like slot for receiving the lower inner slide member (21). 